free to be able to rate and comment on reports (as well as access 1:25000 mapping).
Way back in May 2009 I climbed Sgurr Choinnich and Sgurr a' Chaorachain with Moira and Evelyn. It was one of those memorable days with blue skies, sunshine, snow edged ridges and heavenly views over the sea to Skye. We walked along the ridge between the two with big smiles on our faces and to this day I can still feel the joy of it.
The two Sgurrs climbed in 2009
http://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/Forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=15264As most folk do when they're on hills, we talked about other hills, and Moira told me about her very fit friend who had cycled further east to get access to Maoile Lunndaidh. So it was firmly etched into my pysche that ML was for bikes or tents and not for walking to by only averagely fit, pushing on in age mortals like me.
Since I have no burning need or ambition to climb every Munro, Maoile Lunndaidh was thus relegated to the ones I would probably leave. That was until I'd climbed all the Munros that didn't require a long drive to get to and I revisited the idea. Maybe it wouldn't be too far to walk in by the same route as the two Sgurrs and return all in the same day? Or maybe it would be possible to access it from Strathconon. It did look tantalising close when we climbed Bac an Eich a few weeks ago.
Zoomed to Maoile Lunndaidh from Bac an Eich on 7th May
In the end it happened by accident. Ian who was up for a week's Munro bagging from Yorkshire and a plan was hatched to climb Seana Bhraigh with Ian and James on Monday 30th May. I know, that's another remote one but ones mind turns to long treks in the days of long daylight!
Only snag was we needed good visibility for navigating Seana Bhraigh and as the day got nearer the forecast went downhill and I had to find something else Ian hadn't done that wasn't too far away. So the lot fell on Maoile Lunndaidh and I decided not to send James the WH link with talk of swampy, awkward terrain and a steep climb through heather. His last serious hill was The Saddle in 2012 and I didn't want to put him off.
Finding the Achnashellach forest car park proved not to be as easy as I remembered it to be when I came with Moira and Evelyn. We saw a sign for Achnashellach hostel but I insisted there was a sign for the car park, as mentioned in WH. So we drove on looking for it until we'd gone about 5 miles too far and had to turn back. Not my finest hour - although in my defence there is no longer any roadside sign to the forest car park which hides on the north side of the road at Craig.
We set off across the railway track and made good time along the track up the glen. As we gained height we didn't get the views back to Fuar Tholl, Sgurr Ruadh and Beinn Liath Mhor because the cloud was down. But we were confident the cloud would burn off and that by midday we'd see them - and a lot more besides.
What I didn't immediately realise was that it was 30th May 2009 I had walked this track to the two Sgurrs and here I was exactly 7 years later, to the day, heading for their remoter neighbour. With all the variables there are with dates, weather and hills I could never have planned something like that and it was strangely satisfying to discover it!
Maoile Lunndaidh is one of those hills that gets a bit of a bad press. It's a long way to walk to from any direction, it's surrounded by energy sapping bogs and it involves an unrelentingly steep climb up through heather. To be honest on the distance front we found it wasn't a problem without bikes because the good track allows a good speed of walking. The other concern I had was the boggy terrain so when we met two campers walking out we asked how they'd found it. They had looked at the WH route but didn't fancy it and recommended we keep walking east past the lodge, before taking a right turn and heading for a path up by a stream which is WH's suggested descent route. If we did that we would only have one river crossing instead of three.
First sign of lumpy peat hag country that surrounds Maoile Lunndaidh like a protective moat
Glenuaig Lodge straight ahead
We continued to the lodge but were lured into following an ATV track heading towards the river, rather than continuing east which the two guys had advised us to do. Once over the river we were into bogs and peat hags but it had been so dry it wasn't the obstacle it might have been after a wet spell. This led to a second burn crossing and then a third - so what the two guys had told us about three crossings was spot on.
Approaching second burn crossing
We had a little drama at the third crossing when James leaned over to offer me a hand up the steep bank and his specs in plastic wallet fell out of the top of his rucksack and floated off downstream. He scrambled down after them but the open ended wallet quickly filled with water and sank out of sight. You have to understand these weren't an old pair of glasses one might take hill walking just in case; they were his good pair. So this was not a good situation. He kept sticking his hand into the swirling water between the rocks and after a few fruitless trawls rescued them from what might have been their watery grave until the end of time. We were all slightly euphoric after that.
The babbling brook that nearly claimed the specs
The moral of the tale is not to forget to fasten the top of ones rucksack. And secondly, not to bother being chivalrous trying to help women at river crossings as it will probably backfire and no good come of it!
Once on the east side of the burn we found a sketchy path that led up towards a break in the ridge, passing a bonny waterfall on the way.
View into Fuar-tholl Mor corrie and another waterfall
James following Ian up to the ridge
Fuar-tholl Mor corrie
Looking back to the lodge and the way we had come
The going on the ridge changed from grassy to rocky as we approached the summit plateau
Zoomed to Coulin peaks
Ian and James at summit cairn
Cornice poised and ready to go
View SE to Loch Monar and beyond to Strathfarrars and Mullardochs
Easy walking on summit plateau towards Mica Ridge
View to the Torridon big boys
We roughly followed WH's ascent route for our descent, which was easy walking to start with but became steeper and lumpier and seemed to go on for a long long time!
Start of the pathless descent
Not wanting to become an ankle statistic I lagged behind on this section
I suggested instead of cutting across the peat hagged area with the three crossings we head due north straight for the Pollan Buidhe, before turning left for the lodge. I'm not sure if the guys thought this was a good idea or not but they humoured me and that's the way we went. The river was easy to cross on boulders and we headed uphill to find the path that continues towards Glen Strathconon.
East towards Glen Strathconon
Our descent route was down shoulder on left but we wondered if might have been better on right hand shoulder?
James' feet were sore so I suggested dunking them in cold water and shortly after the lodge we stopped at a burn for emergency foot treatment. He stuck both of his in and I put only my right foot in as a controlled experiment to see if it made a difference. After the initial shock of cold water on hot sweaty feet it was bliss!
Interestingly as a result of the numbing from fresh Highland water therapy my right foot felt pretty good but as the miles wore on my left foot felt increasingly hot and prickly with sore skin on the big toe joint. Not a conclusive experiment as my left foot might have been worse anyway. The next time I'll try it the other way round.
The long trek out
Coulin Forest now visible which it wasn't in the morning
Maoile Lundaidh is now up there with the best of my memorable hill days. Its waterfalls, dramatic corries and stunning views from an easy to walk on summit plateau more than compensate for the difficulties. And on the day we went, after a long dry spell, they weren't great difficulties at all.
